My Cold Dish
by TheineMedicine
Summary: JD is placed in charge of young Jack, but what happens when an enraged gunman enters the hospital?JD, Dr. Cox, and Jack in a family sort of way love, non slash.


Author's note:

Hey guys! This is my icebreaker fan fiction, just a little one shot of JD, Jack, and Dr. Cox, in a Father-son-son kind of way. There may be some errors, but I tried to gleam it as best as I could. Anyway, enjoy! Also, I would love some reviews on any errors that I have made, but I'll accept reviews on anything, of course! :)

Adrian Matthews sat on his couch, emptily staring at the handgun that he reverently cradled in his hand. His life was already over, and he knew that to be a fact. He was terminal, with Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease, and he had about a month left until dementia set in, with death lurking nearby for about 5 years, until it took him and his riddled brain to a "better place." The doctors at Sacred Heart Hospital gave him his diagnosis and then booted him out almost immediately, only seemingly to pause to hastily scribble an address to a care facility. They provided him with no comfort, and left him scared, angry, and confused. Not to mention alone; Upon learning of his coming fate, his girlfriend of almost three years up and left him with barely a word, and his close family already said their goodbyes, leaving him shortly after as well, making him feel as if he was already dead. This in itself, he reasoned to himself, was reason enough to make the doctors at Sacred Heart miserable, and revenge was a dish best served cold, and, by golly, he was feeling _pretty_ cold at the moment. He glanced at the gun again, chuckling softly to himself. Hopefully the bullet will be cold enough.

Grimacing slightly, Adrian stood up slowly, and donned a hooded black jacket, and stuffed the small pistol, as well as some ammo, into one of the pockets, and stopped to look in the mirror. He was a handsome man, and it was a shame that he would be reduced to a blubbering pile of wet sponge, basically. Walking to the door, Adrian made sure to check that everything was set up and in the open; that his suicide note was visible, as well as his will and last requests. Once he had adjusted the few out of place items, making sure everything to be neat when the police investigated, he stopped at the door, and allowed himself a moment to look back into his apartment. Misting slightly, his eyes took in all the details of his room, before opening the door and softly slipping through the opening. Once outside, he glanced around furtively; shivering a bit at the biting wind. Hunching slightly, he began to slowly trudge in the direction of Sacred Heart Hospital, only a few blocks away.

The wind howled as he molded and faded into the dark.

"Alright team, break!" JD said enthusiastically, waving away the residents that were gathered around him, dismissing them from evening rounds. After accepting the Residency Director position offered to him by Doctor Cox, the newish Chief of Medicine, JD had readily thrown himself into the new job, working tirelessly to live up to the very high expectations set for him, to show Dr. Cox that yes, he was a more than competent doctor, and wouldn't crumple and fold under the pressure, like the last director. So far, he was doing very well with it; though Dr. Cox wouldn't admit to anyone, heck, almost even to himself, he was impressed. Almost, but not quite, skipping to the Nurses' station, he hummed a little tune as he dropped off some patient charts. Carla, who was watching JD from nearby, sensed his mood and allowed herself a small smile, while asking, "Hey Bambi, what's got that smile on your face?"

Grinning at her, JD half shrugged, stuffing his hands into his pockets, "Not really sure, but today has been really good. In fact, my residents haven't killed anyone off yet, so I'm hopeful for the night. Maybe we'll get a perfect game. But who knows, the files might get messed up..." Carla waited patiently, chucking quietly to herself, as JD got a distant, glazed look in his eyes as he looked off to his left, pulled into a fantasy, until he shook himself suddenly to get rid of it, while muttering, "I have got to stay away from those monkey cages..." Noticing that Carla was still standing there looking at him, he asked with a smidge of curiosity, "And what are you still doing here? Isn't your shift over?"

"It is, but Turk is almost off, so I'm just waiting for him, then we will be out of here, we've got plans!" Carla said, wiggling her eyebrows.

"Well, don't let Dr. Cox catch you still hanging around. He might go off on a rampage, or worse, take it out on me..." JD hesitated for a second, looking around, before turning back to Carla, "Speaking of Dr. Cox, have you seen him recently? I've been looking for his help on one of these confusing patients."

Carla thought for a second, before shaking her head, replying, "I heard that he had to go over to County for some weird meeting for all the local CMs. Something about budget cuts all over?" Before JD could speak in return to her half question, half statement, he was cut off by a sharp and icy voice, "DJ, I'm leaving Jack with you until I'm done with my board meeting. I'll be back in about an hour. Thanks," Jordan managed to shoot off before quickly handing him a very sleepy five year old Jack to JD, before all but running to the elevator, hoping to make the meeting before the coffee was taken, catching JD's "I'll see you later, then?" Glancing down at Jack, JD squatted down, before grinning and saying, "Hey there Jacky-Boy!"

"Hi Aunt Carol!" Jack chirped happily, earning a sound of affection from Carla, and a chuckle from JD.

Suddenly, a shout rang out from down the hallway, "Vanilla Bear!" Turk cried, running toward JD.

"C-Bear!" Exclaimed JD, each of them running towards each other in slow motion, until they were in reach and pulled each other into a hug. Turk glanced at Carla as JD asked, "So, are you guys headed out now?" Carla nodded, and Turk pulled JD close, whispering, "I think we are, and I think I may be getting very _lucky_ tonight, if you know what I mean." He nudged him and winked.

"My Chocolate bear is getting it daily, nightly, and ever so rightly, you know it and I know it," JD replied , fist bumping him. "Anyway, you guys better get a move on before Dr. Cox come back."

"Good Idea, goodnight Bambi," Carla said, before Turk wrapped an arm around her, and they headed out of the hospital, and into the cold, bitter night. Glancing down absent mindedly at Jack, JD muttered, "And then there were two...well, Jack, how about we get a move on to the cafeteria, get some ice cream, and then head to the staff entrance?" Jack nodded in affirmation, clapping his hands together, before scampering after the young doctor's long stride.

Adrian stepped blearily through the hospital's staff entrance, trying to lay low until he could get further inside. However, being inside of this damned hospital, the same hospital that handed him his very own death sentence, he felt pure hatred and rage wash over him like a tidal wave towards the sea of white coats and scrubs that floated around him. With difficulty, he swallowed his anger with difficulty, before continuing forwards, only to be stopped about thirty feet later by a nurse, whose name tag identified her as Nurse Rebecca, "Sir, this area is off limits to non-personnel, can I help you? If not, you need to leave right now." Adrian only looked at her for a moment, before smiling sadly at her, "No, I'm afraid you can't help me, in fact, I don't think anyone can help me, except maybe God, for what I'm about to do." He quickly pulled out his gun before leveling it at her, hesitating only for a moment before pulling the trigger. As she went down, he quickly took down a few more personnel before anyone had any clue as to what the hell had just happened. By then, the room was filled with screams, moans, and the pounding of feet as everyone tried to retreat from the grim-faced harbinger of death. As the room hastily emptied, Adrian's reddened eyes landed on a small boy, probably of around the age of five, with blue eyes and a shock of red curly hair. Looking at him, Adrian darkly recalled a recent discussion between the love of his life and him about children. Before all of this, they wanted kids. Now, he was alone. His vision tinted red in rage as he raised his gun to eliminate this reminder of his painful past. However, before he could squeeze the trigger, his view of the tiny child was shielded by the body of a tall, young doctor with amazingly bright blue eyes, with jet black hair and clad in dark blue scrubs.

"Wait a second, please, for the love of God, this is a child," JD nearly screamed at him."Why the hell are you doing this? Why?"

"Why the hell do you care? I'm nobody to you..." Adrian said furiously, his rage growing, the itch to shoot become more and more tempting by the second. He gestured with his gun, "I'm terminal, I'm going to be a pile of goop soon, and idiots send me away without the least bit of compassion or sympathy!" He shook his head, "I'm here to kill as many of you as I can, then shoot myself, after I've made you suffer as much as I have."

JD shook his head, his eyes filling with a stubborn determination, "You may have already killed some people, a few of which I was friendly with, by the way, but you will _not_ shoot this kid. I will not allow it. I care about this kid, and more about the father of him, so I will stop you, whatever it takes. The older man, not intimidated, laughed loudly, "Are you kidding me? You can't stop me! I'm in control!" He gestured to his gun, before raising it, intent on shooting Jack, who crouched behind JD, sobbing loudly. JD quickly looked back at the kid, the gears in his brain quickly working to come up with an alternative to his plan, but finding none. Still one thought prevailed above all, and that was that no matter what, Jack will _not_ be on the receiving end of that bullet . After considering the drawbacks, he did the only thing that seemed logical to him, at least, in that moment;

He charged directly at the man

JD saw the man's eyes widen slightly for a moment, before hardening. He vaguely registered the ringing sound of a gunshot, as well as the burning smell of gunpowder, but he continued to bull his way towards Adrian, before lowering his shoulder and hitting him squarely in the chest, making sure to cut upwards into his jaw. The pain flared directly from the jaw to his head, and Adrian's light in his eyes went out like a light, and he crumpled into the wall like a sack of potatoes. Briefly checking on him, JD rushed over to Jack, frantically checking him for wounds, noticing with a quiet horror the pool of blood that seemed to be getting larger by the second on his chest, "Jack! Oh god, Jack! Did he get you? Oh god, where does it hurt?" JD demanded, patting over Jack, but, in bewilderment, finding no wound. Jack, sniffling quietly still, looked up at JD with a terrified expression, and said quietly,

"Aunt Carol, it isn't me."

Clarity washed over JD like a tsunami , and he slowly lowered his gaze to his chest, and immediately registered the how red his scrubs were from the hole in his upper right chest. Choking back a gasp, he stumbled back, trying to calculate blood loss with damage severity, but unable to do so. Almost in slow motion, he sank to his knees, and happened to look up at the hospital entrance. His vision was blurry, but it looked as if...Carla was running towards him, crying out his name, with Turk right behind her, a terrified expression on his face. _Must have forgotten something,_ JD's mind managed to spit out amid the blankness. His vision darkening more, he slowly began to topple forwards, until his face hit the ground. He saw red, then black.

And then, he saw nothing.

It had taken the hospital ten minutes after the JD collapsed to page Dr. Cox. It took him twenty minutes to get there with a police escort. He practically blew off the front doors to the hospital lobby, while roaring, "My son! Where is my son?"

"Daddy!" Jack cried, before running towards him, still covered in a large amount of blood, burying himself in the comfort of his dad's warm arms.

"Oh my son, oh my son..." Perry felt his knees get weak as he sank into one of the nearby chairs, not having the strength to stand, "Are you hurt?"

"No, daddy, I'm fine, I was super brave!" Perry nodded and kissed his forehead.

"Perry, it's JD's blood. A gunman came into hospital and shot a bunch of people, and was about to shoot Jack, but JD got in the way and took the bullet, and managed to knock the guy out and give him a grade four concussion," Jordan said, taking back Jack and clutching to him like a life line. Perry's blood ran cold, and he closed his eyes before asking quietly, "Is-Is he still alive?"

"Yes," At this, a choking sound left Perry's mouth, and he rallied himself once more, "Where is he right now?"

"Still in surgery...it's pretty bad, Perry, they aren't sure if he's going to make it, he lost a lot of blood before they got him in there..." Before she could finish, Perry had already begun sprinting towards the surgery floor, and soon found himself staring inwards through the glass to JD's operation. He observed the surgeons systematically but frantically attempt to staunch the steady flow of blood gushing out of JD's chest. Perry blanched at the sight of their scrubs soaked in very ruby colored blood. Trying to placate himself, he clutched at his hair in a delirious manner, viciously praying to whatever bigger authority existed up there to come through for Sacred Heart, just this once.

Groaning, JD's mind gradually slipped into consciousness once more, and he weakly opened his eyes a little, finding himself in a pristine white bed, with the pulsing of his heart monitor the only sound in the room. Strangely, he felt a weight on his left arm, and mustered the strength to shift his head over slightly, only to behold a very strange sight ; Dr. Cox's head pressed up against his forearm. JD coughed, and Dr. Cox immediately snapped awake, hastily standing to check on JD and his vitals, grabbing a glass of water and allowing JD to drink sparingly from it. Suddenly, like a punch to the gut, memories of the recent events came back to him in a flash. _Jack_. He had to make sure the kid was ok, because God forbid, if something happened to him JD would never be able to forgive himself. He hurriedly pushed himself into a sitting position, but cried out as his body fiercely protested, bruises flaring. He felt like someone cut his stomach back open with a hacksaw, tore out his organs, filled it with acid, and put it all back in backwards. Suddenly, he felt two hands on his shoulders as they steadily applied pressure, forcing him back down. JD offered only a token of resistance before sinking back down with a sigh. Looking up, his icy blue eyes met Dr. Cox's dark blues, taking in his haggard face, "Dr. Cox..." JD swallowed heavily, trying very hard to swallow the golf ball that seems to have ended up in his throat. "Is...is Jack alright? He didn't get hurt did he?" Once again, he reflected on the fact that he could never forgive himself if something actually had happened to the innocent kid. He had one responsibility, to take care of Jack, he had nearly blown it completely.

Perry stared at JD for a moment or two, completely stunned how Jack came first in JD's still hazy and muddled thoughts. In that moment, he allowed himself to completely acknowledge his feelings towards JD, "Jack is fine, kid. Thanks to you, I might add." JD noticed that his Dr. Cox's eyes had begun to gleam, but he chalked it down to the pure stress of almost losing his son. However, he was more confused when Dr. Cox rested his forehead on JD's shoulder, before mumbling, "I'm worried about my son..."

JD's eyes narrowed in confusion, but widened almost instantly as his brain seemingly began to print a list of possible disasters, "Jack isn't well? But you just said...oh God, it's bad isn't it? It's my fault too..."

Perry decided to cut in before JD self-destructed with self-imposed guilt, "He's fine. It isn't him I'm worried about.."

JD opened his mouth to fire off several more questions, his insides bubbling with bewilderment, but before he could, Dr. Cox grabbed a sponge and began to lightly mop JD's forehead. With that, his desire to talk at all died away, and he once more felt the peaceful allure of sleep, and he felt his eyes close, almost by its own will.

"JD, open your eyes," Dr. Cox requested, running his hands through the young doctor

's raven locks, reveling in the feeling. JD didn't respond, just sighed. "Open your eyes, son." At this, they seemed to snap open with force, and looked at him with an astonished expression. "You have been a son to me, always have been, and I couldn't run this hell-hole without you. What you did today, for our family, I'll be always grateful, and I'll never forget." With this, he leaned forwards and pressed his dry lips against his protégé's forehead. Before the young doctor slipped back into dark, he heard one sentence;

"I love you, JD."

Weeeeell folks that's a wrap on this one. Not looking for many reviews, but, like I said, any and all are greatly appreciated. Got a couple ideas brewing in my brain, so I'll be working on those soon. That's all for now. Peace

-TheineMedicine


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